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SEPTEMBER 18,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

THE MADNESS CONTINUES – FROM FOX:   Citing the threat to the student body’s “physical and mental safety,” 177 professors at the University of California, Berkeley, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the campus’ so-called “Free Speech Week.  The speakers scheduled for the week—from Sept. 24 to 27— reportedly include Milo Yiannopoulos, Steve Bannon and Ann Coulter.
The San Francisco Chronicle described the event as “four days of rallies and speeches.”  The report said that—even without the boycott—it is unclear if the event will go through. Organizers did not pay for the facilities, the report said. The price tag for such an event is expected to be exorbitant. It cost $600,000 to secure a recent speech by conservative Ben Shapiro.  The letter from the professors said the event forces some students to risk their “physical and mental safety in order to attend class.”  A spokesman for the school told the paper that faculty members can decide where or when to teach their classes.  The Daily Californian, the student newspaper, reported that only five professors who teach STEM courses (science, technology, engineering, math) on campus signed the letter. The small numb of STEM signatures is not surprising.  Those are real professors who take their work seriously.  It's the humanities and social sciences that are collapsing at our colleges.

NANCY GETS AN EDUCATION – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi was shouted out of a news conference she was holding to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Monday by a vocal group of Dreamers who blamed Democrats for being complicit with President Trump in ending the Obama-era initiative.  Pelosi, standing behind a podium decorated with a sign that said #protectdreamers, said, “Make America dream again. We must strike while the iron is hot and get this done in a matter of days.”  But a group of about 30 young people descended on the large room where the House minority leader stood with other local lawmakers from the San Francisco area and began chanting slogans.   Nancy will learn that you can never satisfy the political left.  You must agree to every point it makes...or else.  The disrupters are gradually taking over the Democratic Party.  There will be no room for Nancy, or Chuck Schumer.  It's Bernie they love.

HILLARY'S LAST STAND – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Hillary Clinton on Monday would not rule out the possibility of challenging the results of the 2016 presidential election, saying it’s clear the Russians influenced the outcome and that the legitimacy of President Trump’s victory could be called into question as congressional and independent probes into Russian involvement move forward.  In an interview with NPR, the former secretary of state — who will speak in Washington on Monday evening as part of her nationwide book tour — would not rule out formally contesting the results of the election.  “I wouldn’t rule it out,” she said, though she quickly admitted there’s virtually no legal path forward, and that challenging election results at this point would be unprecedented.  “There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be [possible], but I don’t think they’re on strong ground. But people are making those arguments. I just don’t think we have a mechanism,”  And I'm so glad we don't.  Remember, please, that the Dems tried to challenge the legitimacy of George W. Bush.  They cannot conceive of losing an election because they can't believe anyone would vote against them.

September 18,  2017     Permalink

OUT OF HER MIND – AT 10:53 A.M. ET:   Someone must take out a restraining order on Hillary Clinton.  It's getting very bad.  Physicians may be called.  From Fox:

Hillary Clinton rejects the idea that a June 2016 meeting between her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch critically damaged her White House bid.

“I just don’t buy that,” Clinton said in a PBS interview aired Friday evening to promote her new book, “What Happened,” about her loss last year to Donald Trump.

As Clinton has in several other, recent interviews promoting the book, she heaped much of the blame on then-FBI Director James Comey.

Comey led the Justice Department investigation into Clinton’s use of private email servers as secretary of state, after Lynch stepped back in the probe, as a result of her allowing Bill Clinton into her airplane to talk while on the tarmac of a Phoenix airport.  

“My husband and Loretta Lynch said they didn’t say a word" about the probe, Clinton told PBS.

“I honestly reject that premise, partly because there’s a chain of command in the Justice Department.”

COMMENT:  Appearances, Hillary.  Appearances.  When things look bad, they hurt you.  Haven't you figured that out?

I'd love to see a new poll on Hillary versus Trump.  I'll bet she's going lower and lower in the numbers, based on her current behavior.  Trump is at 44% in this morning's Rasmussen poll, which is where Obama spent a good part of his presidency.

September 18, 2017       Permalink

EMMYS SINK – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  I didn't watch the Emmys last night.  I suffer enough just watching TV cable news.  But the reports say the show was, as expected, a Trump-bashing, leftist exercise in adolescent hysteria.  From Deadline:

Facing a Green Bay Packers game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football once again, the POTUS bashing Emmys got knocked down a little to a new low last night – at least in the early numbers.

Snagging a 8.2 in metered market ratings, last night’s just over 8 – 11 PM Late Show host fronted shindig from DTLA’s fortified Microsoft Theater tripped 2% from the 2016 show. To give some necessary context, that result is from 50 of 56 markets reporting due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma hitting Florida last week.

With that said, the result is also the third straight decline for TV’s big night with the FOX broadcast and Andy Samberg hosted 2015 Emmys and last year’s show on ABC respectively now in the third and second low place. 

COMMENT:  Who's surprised?  Hollywood begins its award shows by insulting half the TV audience.  The hosts make it plain that they're there to preach the liberal gospel, not to entertain.  How exciting.  I can't wait for next year's show. 

I understand that the TV people made much last night of their newfound "diversity."  Fine, but they'll soon learn that diversity must include more than the one or two groups who are chic in a particular year.  One actress announced that she was voting for anyone who was black.  Okay, but don't expect too much enthusiasm from Hispanics, Asians, or anyone else who doesn't fit the category.

September 18, 2017       Permalink

TAKE TRUMP SERIOUSLY – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  He goes to the UN this week, and he's making it clear there'll be some changes made in American foreign policy.  From AP: 

VIENNA, Austria — US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Washington will walk away from a nuclear deal it agreed to with Iran and five other nations if it deems that the International Atomic Energy Agency is not tough enough in monitoring it.

The warning from Trump came in a message to the UN agency’s annual meeting, being held in Vienna, that was read by US Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

The United States asserts that Iran is obligated to open its military sites to IAEA inspection on demand if the agency suspects unreported nuclear activities at any of them. That’s something Tehran stridently rejects, and Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi urged the agency and its head, Yukiya Amano, to “resist such unacceptable demands.”

Asserting that Iran is fully complying with terms of the accord, Salehi said the greatest threat to its survival is “the American administration’s hostile attitude.”

But Trump, as quoted by Perry, suggested the deal could stand or fail on IAEA access to Iranian military sites, declaring “we will not accept a weakly enforced or inadequately monitored deal.”

COMMENT:   The deal is a disgrace to start with.  It is another example of Barack Obama's monstrous ego, which was always put ahead of the national security of the United States.  Ditto the equally monstrous ego of John Kerry. 

We hope that Trump pursues his hard line, and isn't distracted or pushed back by the Washington establishment, or the commercial interests of countries like Germany, which couldn't wait to trade with Iran once the nuclear deal was made. 

We are talking about the potential survival, or destruction, of tens of millions of people.  Trump understands that.  I'm not sure Obama ever cared.

September 18,  2017     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 17,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:15 P.M. ET: 

CHICAGO STORY – FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:   A woman police believe was pregnant was among five people killed and 13 wounded in Chicago shootings Friday into Saturday morning.
The woman was one of four victims slain in a rifle attack in the Brighton Park neighborhood Friday night, police said.  The quadruple homicide happened about 8:40 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Fairfield Avenue, police said.  Another fatal shooting Friday happened about 11:15 a.m. on the Southwest Side in the 6400 block of South Talman Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood, police said.  Pretty standard for Chicago.  We reported earlier in the week that African Americans are leaving Chicago in large number, to escape the horror.  Please notice the silence of "Black Lives Matter" and other propaganda outlets regarding the Chicago murder rate.  I guess only certain black lives matter.

DISCERNING JOURNALIST COMMENTS – FROM FOX:   A former New York Times labor reporter has been slammed on social media for a snarky tweet hitting the White House for letting an 11-year-old boy mow the Rose Garden lawn last week.  Steven Greenhouse, who worked for the Times for 31 years and still writes for the paper on occasion, took issue with the feel-good story of the boy, Frank Giaccio, of Falls Church, Va., who showed up at the White House Friday to cut the grass at the invitation of President Trump.  “Not sending a great signal on child labor, minimum wage & occupational safety – Trump White House lets a 10-year-old volunteer mow its lawn,” Greenhouse, who covered unions for much of his time at the newspaper, tweeted.  The Daily Wire website slammed Greenhouse’s tweet as the “dumbest” ever posted on Twitter.  But The Times probably saw it as a noble contribution to social justice. 

AND ANOTHER – FROM AFP:   Washington (AFP) - Maria was forecast Sunday to surge to major hurricane strength as it nears the storm-battered eastern Caribbean with 85 mile (140 kilometer) per hour winds, the US National Hurricane Center said, on a path similar to that of mega storm Irma earlier in the month.  Storm warnings and watches went up in many of the Caribbean islands still reeling from Irma's destructive passage.   As of 0300 GMT Monday, Maria was a Category One hurricane, the lowest on the five point Saffir-Simpson scale, located 100 miles (165 kilometers) northeast of Barbados while bearing west-northwest at 13 miles (20 kilometers) an hour, the NHC said..."Rapid strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands," the NHC warned.  The hurricane season won't end until the middle of next month.  It's pretty clear the weather is Trump's fault.

September 17,  2017     Permalink

NAVY SEALS NEED NOT APPLY – AT 1:28 P.M. ET:  There are certain stories you can't make up.  From Legal Insurrection: 

Duke University will launch the Duke Men’s Project for a second year this September in an effort to combat “toxic masculinity” and the harmful narratives about gender roles that circulate around campus.

The group will continue accepting applications until Wednesday, and hopes to receive a large number of male students interested in increasing “male allyship in gender equity and gender violence prevention,” according to its Facebook description.

The nine-week program, sponsored by the Duke Women’s Center, will include 15 male-identified students that will “unpack expressions of masculinity through a feminist lens.” The Project is meant to “call men in to conversations about feminism and gender oppression,” while creating “a space of brotherhood and fellowship dedicated to interrogating male privilege and patriarchy.”

The group says it wants to question and revise concepts of masculinity in order to provide healthier alternatives. Project members also claim that there is a “misinformed narrative that gender equity and feminism hurts men,” and that conversations about the appropriate limits of masculinity can empower men.

COMMENT:  I'd rather watch a John Wayne movie.

September 17,  2017     Permalink 

SOME PROGRESS – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  The Dems have created a logjam in the Senate, making it impossible for President Trump's excellent court nominations to be approved.  Now there may be action by the Republican majority to break that logjam.  Even Mitch McConnell seems interested.  From The Hill:

Momentum is building in the Senate for doing away with an arcane rule that allows senators to block some of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

The “blue-slip” rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — allows a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return a sheet of paper, known as a blue slip, to the Judiciary Committee.

Conservatives have clamored for months to get rid of the rule, arguing Democrats are abusing the process to block qualified nominees.

They recently gained a powerful ally: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), at least when it comes to picks for the U.S. courts of appeals. 

"My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you’re going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball,” McConnell told The New York Times.

He added that he supports keeping the blue slip rule for district court judges, whose decisions can get appealed to the circuit court.

COMMENT:  Okay, now let's see some action.  Giving the country a more conservative federal court system should be a priority goal of the Republican Congress. 

Many congressional Republicans don't seem to realize how critical the 2018 midterm elections will be.  If Republicans cannot present to the American people a record of real accomplishment, they could lose control of at least the House, and possibly the Senate as well.  And a third party, possibly led by Donald Trump, could be born.

September 17, 2017       Permalink

NIKKI – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  One of the true stars of this administration is UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has performed her work with perfect pitch, and has made it clear that she represents the United States, not the faculty lounge at Georgetown.  She asserts that the UN is changing under Trump's pressure.  From The Hill: 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is crediting President Trump with cultivating change at the U.N., saying ahead of his first visit to the international body that "it is a new day at the U.N."  

"It is a new day at the U.N. I think that the pleas he made in terms of trying to see change at the United Nations had been heard, and I think  what we'll do is see him respond to that," Haley told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." 

"What you are now seeing is the Israel bashing has become more balanced. You've got a United Nations that is action oriented, we've passed two resolutions on  North Korea just in the last month. And you also have a United Nations that is moving toward reform," Haley said on Sunday. 

"We said we needed to get value for our dollar, and what we're finding is that the international community is right there with us in support of reform," she added.

Trump is set to address the U.N. General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday. 

He has criticized the U.N. in the past, saying that it had expressed anti-Israeli sentiments, did not take action on a variety of issues and was overly dependent on U.S. funding.  

COMMENT:  I think wonderful Nikki may be overstating the gains, but she is not overstating Trump's resolve.  They may not like him at the UN, but they know they have to listen to him. 

Trump's appearance this week is critical.  It's clear from comments by a number of sources that his speech is being carefully prepared.  I sense it may well be a triumph, and that the Obama era at the UN may well be behind us.

September 17,  2017   Permalink